come dancing

I must first say that as cute as I think Ashly is, she had a rough go with her partner and I think it's best that P is gone. Now it will be dancers who really want to be there. (Dancing with the Stars)

I have to say that I must come by my love of ballroom dancing naturally. You see, my parents met in a ballroom, and my dad taught ballroom dance for a while.

When I was very young, my dad would "dance" with me by holding me in a dance position. Of course my feet didn't touch the ground (literally). When I was too big for that type of dance, he'd let me put my stocking feet on his shoes to "dance."

When I was 10 and at my very first Daddy Daughter date, I was a little miffed because while Dad was trying to teach me a basic box step, he ended up giving a lesson because the other girls wanted to dance like that.

There were times as a teen that I'd be at a church dance, and to save face, I'd make my dad come in and dance with me before I left so that I could say I actually danced. He'd always say "I can't do that stuff you kids do." I'd tell him I didn't care.

When I was in college, I took ballroom dancing. I enjoyed feeling elegant. Even though I didn't dance much outside of class because I usually didn't have a partner, there was this one guy that I really liked. He was on the ballroom dance team. My roommates asked him to a dance for me and we stayed friends. He taught me some of the stuff the team would do. Fortunately I was a quick study, plus it was more about the fun. From that point on, if he saw me, we'd usually end up sharing a dance. That was my last year of college.

I came back home to no dance partner, no chance to practice the fun things I learned in ballroom class. Once again, Daddy to the rescue. However, by now he KNEW what I could do and so when there was a dance, I'd get to dance with my father. Mom would watch. I know she was envious because her body had failed her by now, but she'd watch us having fun and smile, but I know there were times she wished it was her.

Every time I hear or think of that Luther VanDross song "Dance with my Father," the memories come flooding. It took quite a while to be able to hear that song without crying.

Maybe between their heavenly duties, my parents are now and then able to sneak in a quick dance or two.